Stalled Fermentation - Need help

Sorry in advance for the long post - I figure the more details the better....

Grains:
1.0 lbs. Caramel/Crystal Malt 60
1.0 lbs. Roasted Barley
0.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt

Extract:
8 lbs. Light/Pale DME
1 oz. Target (Beginning)
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (Finishing)
6 oz. Cocoa powder

Wyeast Irish Ale

- Bring 1.5 gallons of water to 160F and add grains. Let steep for ~50mins
- Remove and rinse grains with water and pour into boil kettle and additional water to bring total boil size to about 2.5-3 gallons.
- Return to boil, remove from heat and stir in DME and add target hops then bring back to rolling boil (total boil time 60mins)
- 20 minutes remaining add Goldings hops
- 10 mins remaining added 6oz of cocoa powder and 2.5g of wyeast nutrient (dissolved in warm water)
- 0mins remaining remove from heat and pour into primary (plastic bucket) and chill in an ice bath.
- yeast pack was smacked 4hrs earlier. Wort @ 78 degrees – stirred vigorously to aerate for 2 minutes and pitched yeast.

OG: 1.076

There was some activity in my primary bucket (some foam, blow off, etc.) but after a week it seemed to have subsided so I took a gravity reading thinking it was close to completion. To my surprise its currently at about 1.058 which means its only dropped 18 points in just over a week (og was 1.076). I decided to toss a thermometer in the primary and sure enough my beer was sitting at about 58 degrees. Wow - didn't realize my basement was that cold (ambient room temp was 55ish). So, I gave it a mildly vigorous stir and moved it upstairs where the room temp average is around 65-68.

I had ordered 3 packs of yeast from a supplier and figure they were pretty much dead as I attempted to smack another British Ale yeast pack and toss it into the primary with hopes of it kick starting the fermentation. I Let it sit for 5 days hoping fermentation would kick start due to warmer temps and new fresh yeast but nothing changed. The 3rd pack of notty yeast I ordered from the supplier I attempted to make a starter with and it didnt even do anything to the starter. So, I figure the Wyeast Irish and British ale yeasts I ordered were either DOA or very very fatigued and I pitched a weak dose of yeast to begin with.

So, I went out and bought some known, good fresh Nottingham yeast. Re-hydrated it with water as per package instructions (which actively foamed during the 15min re-hydration) and pitched into wort. At this point I was set to go on a 2week vacation so a friend popped over every few days to check the temperature and SG. Fast forward to a week ago, I get home, check the temp (wort temp is about 66), room temp is 64. I tossed in my hydrometer and unfortunately my SG is sitting at 1.050. I decide to let it sit for a week thinking a bit of time might help but my SG is still stuck at 1.050.

I've tried:
- Pitching 3 yeasts over the course of the last month
- A second hydrometer to ensure reading is accurate
- Warming it up to 70-75F for a few days

I'm pretty much out of ideas and could really use some help and suggestions.

The gravity reading suggests that there are plenty of sugars in there for your yeasts to eat, so that is likely not the problem. The first red flag I can see in this is that you had a pretty high starting gravity, which could lead to some issues with the yeast getting drunk on their own alcohol. If the alcohol content in there is too high the yeast won't want to work, much like any of us if we've had a few homebrews.

That being said, a small drop in gravity like that doesn't necessarily raise my eyebrow about high alcohol content. You might try bringing the temp up on the bucket even a little higher, up to around 70-72 and stir up the yeast gunk on the bottom. Let it sit for a few days and see if any activity reignites. After 3 smack packs and a dry package of notty I sincerely doubt you have a yeast problem.

The only other thing I could suggest past that is making sure your hydrometer is reading correctly. I recently had a big beer like this one with a hugely low hydro reading. I put it into plain water and found my hydrometer was accounting for almost 20 points. I don't know man, if all else fails, you might consider yeast energizer, or some other supplement to try to jump start. That's all I can think of, let us know if anything works.

i had a porter that was stuck. i just brewed up a nut brown extract brew with the same yeast. when it was done i siphoned the porter ontop.
one thing that i did notice. i put my buckets in my basement. and even though the ambient temp is 70, the temp strip on my bucket is 68. i have my porter right behind me in my computer room now, where it is about 72-74f. the temp strip on my bucket is 72. and the yeast seem happy judging from the bubbling of the airlock. i think i might bring other batches up there for the 3rd week to make sure they finish.

I have already tried stirring it and keeping it at a warmer temperature which didn't do anything.

I tried a second hydrometer as my main posts notes - both read 1.050

As far as the second suggestion goes, you think a yeast cake from another brew would actually help when 3 packs of yeast can't get it going??

Bump. Anyone have any other ideas wtf might be going on with my beer and any suggestions to fix it??

Stirring may not have infused enough oxygen in such a 'thick' wort. Maybe the yeast used up the available oxygen and went dormant. Just tossing an idea, I don't claim to know for sure.

robsauce said:

Bump. Anyone have any other ideas wtf might be going on with my beer and any suggestions to fix it??

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Well, you have tried the obvious remedies and even repitched...4 TIMES. I'm stumped.

Maybe you got some really, really bad extract loaded with unfermentables? The under-aeration theory is an interesting one.

brew up another batch, and put this beer on the other batches yeast cake after its done.
basically your making a 5 gallon starter.
worked for me.
if you do a search for stuck fermentation. there is a thread about doing this. the person who started the thread said that this method worked for him every time.
it would be worth a try.

Given the fact that it has fermented slightly and some alcohol is present, would aerating at this point be a bad idea?

I really hope that the malt extract I received isn't bad as I have another 20lbs of it.....What would be the easiest way to tell? Make a small starter and toss some yeast in it to see if it ferments out?

eppo said:

if you do a search for stuck fermentation. there is a thread about doing this. the person who started the thread said that this method worked for him every time.
it would be worth a try.

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I did a search but can't find this thread you speak of - could you help a brother out a bit?

Thanks again to everyone for their advice.

If you can make up a good sized starter instead of the smack packs and pitch that, you'd have to wait less time than brewing a whole new batch, though with 4 packs in there already...

Gremlyn1 said:

If you can make up a good sized starter instead of the smack packs and pitch that, you'd have to wait less time than brewing a whole new batch, though with 4 packs in there already...

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I like this idea. If nothing else, your troubleshooting process will allow you to try your hand at making a starter.

Since 5 yeasts have been pitched, should he rack to a different bucket before pitching the starter?

Seems to be a rash of stuck fermentations going on, I'll go with . . . . . . fewer sunspots and less solar emmisions, i.e. global cooling.

PS absolutely do not aerate now. You will introduce oxygen to the solution, which at this point will make your beer taste like a fine cardboard box.

Well, FML.

I attempted the above stuck fermentation fixer. Last monday I had a brown ale that just finished fermenting and I transferred it to secondary. I then racked my stubborn stout onto the yeast cake and its been sitting @ 68F for a week now. Took an SG reading this morning and the ***** is still @ 1.050ish. Any other thoughts on this ***** or am I ready to dump it down the drain?

If you are sure that there's lots of sugars left try a neutral wine or champagne yeast.

I'd do a starch test, cheap easy effective. Iodine from the grocery and the white back side of a dinner plate.


If it's starches there is one thing you may be able to do:
kōji mold (Aspergillus oryza). It'll reduce starches to sugars.
http://www.leeners.com/sake.html

+1 on the starch test. If you don't have god conversion, there isn't much you can do without turning it into a funky batch.

I have heard suggested, but never tried using beano to break down long chain sugars so that the yeasties can get at them, which might be the problem here